Dynamic propagation criteria for catastrophic failure in planar landslides

Quantitative assessment of the risk of submarine landslides is an essential part of the design process for offshore oil and gas developments in deep water, beyond the continental shelf. Landslides may be triggered by a reduction in shear strength of subsea sediments over a given zone, caused for example by seismic activity. Simple criteria are then needed to identify critical conditions whereby the zone of weakness could grow catastrophically to cause a landslide. A number of such criteria have been developed over the last decade, based either on ideas drawn from fracture mechanics, or considering the equilibrium of the initial weakened zone and adjacent process zones of gradually softening material. Accounting for the history of the weak zone initiation is critical for derivation of reliable propagation criteria, in particular considering dynamic effects arising from accumulating kinetic energy of the failing material, which will allow the failure to propagate from a smaller initial zone of weakened sediments. Criteria are developed here for planar conditions, taking full account of such dynamic effects, which are shown to be capable of reducing the critical length of the softened zone by 20% or more compared with criteria based on static conditions. A numerical approach is used to solve the governing dynamic equations for the sliding material, the results from which justify assumptions that allow analytical criteria to be developed for the case where the initial softening occurs instantaneously. The effect of more gradual softening is also explored. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonseismic phenomena in the generation and augmentation of tsunamis

While earthquakes generate about 90% of all tsunamis, volcanic activity, landslides, explosions, and other nonseismic phenomena can also result in tsunamis. There have been 53 000 reported deaths as a result of tsunamis generated by landslides and volcanoes. No death tolls are available for many events, but reports indicate that villages, islands, and even entire civilizations have disappeared. Some of the highest tsunami wave heights ever observed were produced by landslides. In the National Geophysical Data Center world-wide tsunami database, there are nearly 200 tsunami events in which nonseismic phenomena played a major role. In this paper, we briefly discuss a variety of nonseismic phenomena that can result in tsunamis. We discuss the magnitude of the disasters that have resulted from such events, and we discuss the potential for reducing such disasters by education and warning systems.     

Influence of local geological conditions on the macroseismic effects in the town of Strazhitza

Damage caused by the earthquake of 7 December 1986 (M = 5.7) and its aftershocks in low-storey residential buildings in the town of Strazhitza, Bulgaria, situated in the epicentral zone are systematized. A scale of damages is compiled for two types of buildings which is coordinated with the MSK-64 scale. The territorial distribution of the seismic intensity is compared with the results of the detailed engineering-geological study. A correlation between the Quarternary deposit thickness and the observed seismic intensity is obtained.Paper presented at the 21st general assembly of the European Seismological Commission held in Sofia, 1988.     

山西地震带中与强震活动有关的两种滑坡

本文以滑波理论为依据，总结了山西地震带的两种不同特点的滑坡。即：振荡式滑坡及触发式滑坡。虽然两种滑坡都可分为变形、解体、滑动、毁灭等四个阶段，但其动力不同。振荡式滑波的滑动面倾角小，因而滑力来源于强震振动，而触发式滑坡的滑动面倾角大，因而滑力来自滑体本身静荷载。对两种滑坡的研究对预防及减轻强震带来的次生灾害有重要的意义。     

Significance of geomorphological and subsurface drainage controls on failures of peat‐covered hillslopes triggered by extreme rainfall

On 19 September 2003, 40 landslides of 140–18 000 m³ volume occurred within 2·5 km² on the slopes of Dooncarton Mountain (Republic of Ireland) during a storm that may have exceeded 90 mm within 90 minutes. The landslides were investigated to determine the reasons for such a high density of slope failures. All of the landslides were surveyed within four months, and nine of them were investigated in detail. The six largest landslides, all peat failures, accounted for 57% of the more than 100 000 m³ of material displaced during the event. A consistent sequence of superficial materials was found on the failed hillslopes, including an extensive iron pan at the base of a buried soil horizon 0·3 m below the base of the peat. Morphologically, almost all of the landslides occurred on steep planar slopes or around sharp convexities, with the latter failures developing retrogressively upslope. The only significant relationship found from analysis of 371 subsurface pipes and 142 seepage cracks (defined here as contiguous fissures conducting concentrated subsurface flow) across all the failures was that the thinner the peat cover, the deeper the pipes and seepage cracks occurred below the base of peat. It is concluded that most of the landslides were probably caused by a combination of excess water pressures in the buried soil horizon and the thinner overburden of peat or peaty soil associated with the steeper slope segments. Pipes and seepage cracks formed on the iron pan probably existed prior to the failure event and may have contributed to the high water pressures as rainwater inputs exceeded their discharge capacities. One large peat slide was probably triggered by excess water pressures developed within and between artificial tine cuts. The properties of the blanket peat were generally of little consequence in the occurrence of the landslides, but relict desiccation cracks and other structural weaknesses through the peat mass were probably highly significant. Although several aspects of the peat failures correspond to previously published examples, the context of these failures in terms of the topography and upland catena is distinctive. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GIS支持下的地震诱发滑坡危险区预测研究

为了满足对地震诱发滑坡危险区预测的不断增长的迫切要求，灾害评价成为帮助决策过程重要的基础工具之一。即使地震滑坡危险性各组份的评价很困难，但地理信息可辅助提出这种灾害制图的有关方法。描述了用于地理信息系统识别和定量计算不同地震滑坡危险区的技术方法，确定了地震烈度、地形坡度、岩土体类型和现存滑坡密度共4个因子参与的地震诱发滑坡危险性分析。在ARC／INFO DRID支持下，进行叠合分析，由此编制了云南省地震诱发滑坡危险区预测图。由地貌学家提出的地震诱发滑坡预测为规划和工程师提供了对区域规划和建筑工程有价值的技术方法。     

茅台滑坡治理反思及生态环境综合治理分析

茅台滑坡的产生受控于该区的地形地貌、地质构造、水文地质条件、降雨、地震和人类工种活动、生态环境等诸多因素，遥感技术手段对滑坡的研究也是十分重要的，本文分析了赤水茅台滑坡地形地质条件，提出了综合治理的工程手段和生态环境保护的重要性。     

A Reliability Based Expert System for Assessment and Mitigation of Landslides Hazard Under Seismic Loading

Different models were developed for evaluating the probabilistic three-dimensional (3-D) stability analysis of earth slopes and embankments under earthquake loading using both the safety factor and the displacement criteria of slope failure.The probabilistic models evaluate the probability of failure under seismic loading considering the different sources of uncertainties involved in the problem. The models also take into consideration the spatial variabilities and correlations of soil properties. The developed models are incorporated in a computer program PTDDSSA.These analysis/design procedures are incorporated within a code named SARETL developed in this study for stability analysis and remediation of earthquake triggered landslides. In addition to the dynamic inertia forces, the system takes into consideration local site effects.The code is capable of assessing the landslide hazard affecting major transportation routes in the event of earthquakes and preparing earthquake induced landslide hazard maps (i.e., maps showing expected displacements and probability of slope/embankments failure) for different earthquake magnitudes and environmental conditions. It can also beused for proposing a mitigation strategy against landslides.     

基于GIS的滑坡、泥石流灾害危险性区划关键问题研究

随着GIS技术的引入,滑坡、泥石流灾害危险性区划的效率和准确性得以大大提高。依据工程地质类比原则,在灾害学理论指导下,结合专家打分、层次分析、人工神经网络、信息量、Logistic回归、统计量等模型方法,以MAPGIS软件为平台,利用C++语言开发了滑坡、泥石流灾害危险性区划评价分析系统;并重点探讨了GIS支持下的滑坡、泥石流灾害危险性区划过程中的因子分析、模型选取、模型复合、单元划分、系统集成、结果评价等关键问题,建立了一整套基于GIS的滑坡、泥石流灾害评价方法体系。应用该系统对长江三峡库区和辽宁省鞍山市分别开展了滑坡、泥石流灾害危险性区划研究,取得了较好的效果。     

Epigenetic gorges in fluvial landscapes

Epigenetic gorges form when channels that have been laterally displaced during episodes of river blockage or aggradation incise down into bedrock spurs or side‐walls of the former valley rather than excavating unconsolidated fills and reinhabiting the buried paleovalley. Valley‐filling events that promote epigenetic gorges can be localized, such as a landslide dam or an alluvial/debris flow fan deposit at a tributary junction, or widespread, such as fluvial aggradation in response to climate change or fluctuating base‐level. The formation of epigenetic gorges depends upon the competition between the resistance to transport, strength and roughness of valley‐filling sediments and a river's ability to sculpt and incise bedrock. The former affects the location and lateral mobility of a channel incising into valley‐filling deposits; the latter determines rates of bedrock incision should the path of the incising channel intersect with bedrock that is not the paleovalley bottom. Epigenetic gorge incision, by definition, post‐dates the incision that originally cut the valley. Strath terraces and sculpted bedrock walls that form in relation to epigenetic gorges should not be used to directly infer river incision induced by tectonic activity or climate variability. Rather, they are indicative of the variability of short‐term bedrock river incision and autogenic dynamics of actively incising fluvial landscapes. The rate of bedrock incision associated with an epigenetic gorge can be very high (>1 cm/yr), typically orders of magnitude higher than both short‐ and long‐term landscape denudation rates. In the context of bedrock river incision and landscape evolution, epigenetic gorges force rivers to incise more bedrock, slowing long‐term incision and delaying the adjustment of rivers to regional tectonic and climatic forcing. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.